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Session 2506

ABET Educational Assessment: Outcomes (a)-(k)

Enno “Ed” Koehn Lamar University

Abstract

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has revised the accreditation criteria that is designed to assure that graduates of accredited programs are prepared to enter the practice of engineering and satisfy industrial requirements. The general criteria also specifies that engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates possess or satisfy eleven (11) educational attributes or outcomes generally known as “a” through “k”.

This investigation suggests that both industrial practitioners and undergraduate Civil (Construction) Engineering students consider two of the eleven (11) outcomes to be particularly important. In addition, graduating seniors in Civil (Construction) engineering believe their coursework has given them a strong background in the identical two areas. These include: (1) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering; and (2) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems. In contrast, three outcomes received slightly lower ratings from each of the groups. These include, a knowledge of contemporary issues; the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global/societal context; and an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. Overall, the data may suggest that not all ABET educational attributes are considered by graduating seniors in Civil (Construction) engineering, industrial practitioners, and undergraduates to have the same level of significance and perhaps should not be stressed to the same degree in an engineering program. For comparative purposes, the findings of the investigation could be utilized by other institutions and departments that may wish to study and/or assess their curriculum and satisfy ABET criteria.

I. Introduction

Over the years there have been recommendations from employers and various technical/professional societies to revise the engineering curriculum to ensure that students are prepared for the increasing complexity and international aspects of engineering work 3, 4, 12, 15. Engineering educators have also been involved with these efforts5, 7, 8, 9. Nevertheless, there appears to be a general belief that the engineering profession must change so that in the future it will be highly recognized and respected at national and international levels1, 2, 14.

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the perceptions of three groups: graduating seniors, engineering undergraduates, and practitioners. The data for the study was obtained, in part, from a survey instrument that was distributed to graduating seniors and civil engineering undergraduates at Lamar University. In addition, a similar questionnaire was completed by

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Koehn, E. (2003, June), Abet Educational Assessment: Outcomes (A) (K) Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12421